He switched to wrestling techniques. A clanging din filled the air as each giant fought for a hold on the other’s vulnerable head mechanism. A contest of strategy, not strength, was exactly what Tom wanted. Now he could use scientific tactics based on his knowledge of the robot’s structural operations.
For a moment Ator had the advantage. He broke a full nelson with a thrust that sent Sermek reeling back against the plant wall. But Sermek recovered quickly and sprang forward again. Leaping into the air, he lunged at Ator, and with one hand, short-circuited the receiving antenna atop the giant’s head. Ator crashed to the ground.
196 TOM SWIFT AND HIS GIANT ROBOT
Sermek had won!
Tom flung open the control-house door and dashed out, Ator’s temporary master might have taken over the controls at the relay board and television screen in the plant. Racing past the fallen robot, he slipped through the milling crowd of workers and entered the double-walled enclosure which housed the long relay board. Abruptly Tom stopped in his tracks. Bud was coming down the passageway, xveaving from side to side.
“Bud, what-”
“Electric shock,” his friend panted, leaning against the wall for support. “I just came to. Knocked me out.”
“Take it easy, Bud,” Tom said. “Are you all right now?”
“Yes. But listen, Tom,” he gasped. “On a hunch, I went to see if anyone was tampering with the relay panel. I saw Robert Turnbull at the controls just as I turned into the corridor! Then the shock hit me and I blacked out.”